Press conference, after 2nd place in race.
PD: Denis, you were 3rd last race. 2nd this time. Another step to the win?
DK: Ha-ha! Everyone was impressed when I finished 3rd, now I'm second in Bahrain... so why not a first place. To tell the truth, I think it'll be hard though.
PD: The great battle with Mark through whole the race. For the 4th place first, for the podium after 1st pit, when Markus hit the pit-in wall. And finally for 2nd after electronics problem on leading Diablo of Bengtsson. Some words about?
DK: Joakim was very unlucky, I don't know what happened with Markus. Mark also went out of fuel in the last lap, so I guess I'm lucky... but I had also prepared everything so that I avoid this kind of problems! Fuel calculation, pit-in and 3rd sector without 100m label! Like for last race, I want to thank Joakim and Jeff to have made practice with me.
Press Department (Andrey Lovchy): Thank you, Denis.
Press conference, after 3rd place in race.
PD: This time 3rd place to you, Denis. A little step to the back?
DK: Not at all! It's another good result that no one was waiting. I just prove that staying on track even with relatively "slow" times can give you many points...
PD: The great battle with Petter in the middle of the race. Some words about?
DK: It was a really good battle, very fair. He was faster but I could handle the pressure and avoid overtake.
PD: Was a contact... could say something?
DK: Yeah, he hit my back quite strongly in the left turn after Variante Alta. I don't know how but both cars were undamaged. He waited for me to overtake him (as rules say to do) and we continued. After the race we spoke of it, and everything is ok between us.
PD: Finally he overtook you, but was penalized after the race and as result you have 3rd podium in a row. And you're 2nd in Championship now. Did you expect it before the start of the season?
DK: No, I even hardly believe it now! Note that I was second already before that race... I hope I won't wake up from this dream.
PD: To become the real Championship title contender you need to start to win only now. But also one of your problems is qualifying sessions, isn't it?
DK: It’s true that my qualifications results are far not the same as race results. My goal for this season isn't to be driver's champion. I wanted to score 20 points, but now that is done so quickly my goals changed a bit.
PD: Hope your qualify results will improve, and after that you also start to win finally. The 1st start. What can you say about it?
DK: I took a very good start, I was something like 3rd after first chicane... after the big crash. Hopefully nobody seem to be injured. I was just careful, and nobody drove into me.
PD: Have you saw well the crash in 1st turn, Denis?
DK: No, not well... I saw flames and cars flying... many debris on the track. That's all.
PD: So did it seem massive crash? Did you see something like that before?
DK: Well, I haven't done many races but as long as I remember, I’ve never seen a clean start in 6 races. It was probably the more impressing, yes.
PD: We haven't seen clear start this season at all. What is changed from last season? And what can be done to make starts clearly again in your opinion?
DK: Maybe have further starting lines...as someone already told, but the most important is driver behavior...
Press Department (Andrey Lovchy): Thank you. Press conference ended.
Press conference, after 3rd place in race.
PD: A long wait for the official result, but now you are 3rd. some words about your race.
DK: My starting position was the best so far, and I had prepared well the race. I had quite high wings, to be able to be fast when the track was wet. I made two little mistakes in "eau rouge" and both Joao and Ferry overtook me. They were a lot slower than me, but I had no occasion to overtake them. I waited behind for a mistake, and within ten laps... then both did a mistake that gave me back P3. I was much too far, and slow, to be able to rejoin Chris and Bruno, so I didn't push a lot in stint3 (2 stops strategy). The problem came a 7-8 laps from the end, when I saw I hadn't enough fuel to finish the race. 4 liters were missing, so I short-shifted a lot. Petter was pushing, but ended 1s behind me... I'm very happy with this new podium. I wasn't expecting that much in the beginning of the season, but doing error-free races seem to pay well.
Press Department (Andrey Lovchy): Thank you. Press conference ended.
Press conference, after 3rd place in race.
PD: Another podium for you, Denis. How was your race here?
DK: My race was really great, especially in the beginning where I had to fight with Barris, Koek, Pescali, Dodd... After they all made mistakes or DNF, I had less pressure and saved the engine.
PD: Your feelings of this track?
DK: I like it. This layout is really challenging and it doesn't forgive mistakes. I knew I could do a good result even I'm not super fast, because I'm very consistent and I don't do mistakes...
PD: And one more question - what was your aim for this season and are you happy with your progress so far?
DK: My aim changed in the middle of the championship, when I saw I had already reached it (30pts). Now I have over 60 points... so I'm really happy and I can say that it's fully completed. Despite this, I won't stop the practice... because I can even take P3 to Kaasa, as we have 2 points difference. We also took P3 in the constructor champ, and we want to keep it!
Press Department (Andrey Lovchy): Thank you. Press conference ended.